Bioshock Chronicles: James Godwin
by NoLogicOrReason
Summary: James Godwin is a man living the Rapture dream. However, all of that is torn away in an instant on New Years 1959. Follow James as he is thrown into a civil war he didn't ask for, and see if he can survive with his humanity intact.
1. Chapter 1

"New Years already?...Man, seems like just yesterday Jimmy and me walked through the Rapture Gates last January..." the bartender thought as he finished cleaning the glasses...preparing for the afternoon rush of early birds wanting to get drunk before the festivities. He looked up at the sound of the bell only to see his best friend, James, rush through the door, big stupid grin and all. "Speak of the Devil, I was just thinkin' about you." he said as he put the last glass down. "Done with work already? You don't usually get off till 5:30, and whats with the stupid grin on your ugly mug?" he asked knowing full well what the answer was. He'd only been talking about it for the past week.

"Oh, shut up Joey! You know exactly what I'm grinnin' about! Tonight is the night, I'm gonna ask her to marry me! It'll be so romantic...a nice dinner, the lights, the dancing. It'll be perfect! And how could I forget? The ring!" he exclaimed as he whipped out a huge rock on a small band. " I know she'll just love it. You knowas well as I do she's not really the romantic type , but tonight'll be magic. Just you wait." he trailed off as if deep in thought.

" You always have been a hopeless romantic, Jimmy, I'm sure you'll be just fine" Joey affirmed.

James looked up and smiled, "Better than fine, I'll be great. But, back to your questions" he said straight-forwardly, " Actually took off work today, they didn't need my help. I mean, Hesphestus pretty much runs itself, you know. I actually took the opprotunity to set up a little extra surprise for Heather. You see, she thinks that I'm working late and that she's meeting some of her friends here for a little girl time." He started laughing, " She loves those girl nights, so you know she couldn't resist. I'm going to be here when they show up, give 'em a little chit-chat time, and pounce on my prey with flowers in hand! I'll have a table all set up for us, and at the stroke of midnight I'll pull out the ring and pop the question"  
He walked to the other side of the bar and looked out the window into the cold black abyss of the ocean. "Like the plan?" he asked. Joey was actually impressed, James typically didn't think these things through, but this sounded like a sound plan. Besides, Jimmy was a master of improvisation. If he had the slightest hint of a plan, it would be absolutely stunning.

"Jimmy, I think its a great plan" he assured James, "But, you don't wanna ask a girl to marry you dressed like that. Here." he tossed him a money roll, "Get yourself something snazzy. But hey, you owe me!" James looked at the roll in his hand with disbelief.

"There's gotta be 200 dollars here, I can't possibly-"

"You can and you will. I insist, you moron" Joey said in a firm manner.

"...You're the best, Joey!" he said as he tackled his friend and started putting him in a headlock.

"Man, not at work! We had a deal, remember what happened last time?!" Joey exclaimed as James' relentless attack overwhelmed him.

After pounding his friend into the ground, James got up and brushed himself off, beaming. "That's for calling me a moron, you moron." he chuckled. "What a guy!" he thought to himself. "I'll be sure to get him that gun he's been wanting. What was it? Oh yeah, the new 12 Guage at Power to the People!" He knew how much it took for Joey to give him that roll of cash. Barteneders in Rapture could line their pockets pretty nicely, but most couldn't afford to give away 200 at the drop of a hat. Grinning from ear to ear, he took the cash and left the restaurant. First stop, Power to the People's gun store!

Running down the lit halls, James marveled at the city that surrounded him. Rapture, the sunken city. An Atlantis-esque utopia where the greatest minds of humanity were gathered. A vast treasure of science, art, literature where no government could tell anyone what to do, mostly. Advertisements for plasmids and gene tonics; plastic surgery and weapons, everything that you could possibly want at your fingertips! Walking by the Plasmid store, he peeked in the window and began salivating at all of the cool advertisements behind the showroom glass. "I'll look around after I get Joeys gun" he thought to himself, but he couldn't move away from the invisible wall between him and genetic marvels. "Well, maybe just a peek" he smirked slyly to himself as he slipped in to check on the newest gene modifications. Sure, he was spliced a little. He had the Human Inferno and Shock Coil gene tonics that his job required. Being an engineer in the Hesphestus complex, the power source for the entire city, he was constantly surrounded by electricty and fire due to the system being geothermal in design. But looking around the Gatherer's Garden, he was amazed at all the modifications that were in front of his eyes. Everything from plasmids that turn your hands into a lighter to gene tonics that could...increase performance. After giving the store a look around or two, he picked up a gene tonic that would improve his reflexes as well as the Premium Performance Package. "Heather's in for a surprise tonight" he chuckled to himself as he was checked out at the counter.

Walking to his next stop, the malls music cut out and the overhead speakers sparked to life. "Hello, fellow denziens of Rapture, this is Andrew Ryan." James huffed at this.

"Who else could it be?" he questioned, "The guy pretty much owns the city". The voice continued.

"As of lately, there has been some...unrest among many in the working class. As such, I feel it is my duty to inform you that anyone associated with one of these...labor unions...that these are illegal organizations that will only hinder the progress of our society and way of life. Therefore, any protest against the running of an organization will furthermore be meeted with a discharge of any protesting individuals. Such parasites will not be tolerated. That is all." The voice faded away and was replaced by the voice of Frank Sinatra singing "I've Got You Under My Skin".

James cocked his head to the side, thinking about the mesage he had just heard. "Well, that's about half the staff I know in Hesphestus" he speculated. "They've been complaining non-stop lately. At least I didn't sign the petition they were passing around last week. Looks like there could be trouble soon" As he walked to the gun store, he couldn't help but stop to think about what some of the men had been saying. He remembered something about doing "whatever it took" to get some change. " But, they wouldn't?....nah, of course not. The guys aren't that desperate or stupid." he concluded as he walked in the front door of Power to the People. He strolled over to the shotgun rack and took a look at the new 12 guage. "Wow, beautiful weapon they have here" he mumbled to himself as he let his eyes scan the pricetag. "1200 dollars!". He screamed silently on the inside and kicked himself for buying those gene tonics before he came to get what he was after in the first place. "I only have one grand and 250 at least has to go to the tux and all the trimmings tonight!" He started pacing the room, thinking about what to do next.

"Can I help you, sir?" the saleswoman nervously asked James as he had made his fifth pass by her.

Brought back to reality by the kind quesiton he responded," What's the best deal you have around here for 750 dollars?" James was surprised when the girls face lit up.

" Well, sir, for 700 dollars you can buy our best pistol and get the two upgrades available to it. The Magnum Revolver, sir, is quite the force to be reckoned with when its clip is incresed to hold 24 bullets as well as having it fitted with an attactment to increase its power output. A superb addition to any gun enthusiasts collection. I greatly suggest you buy that!"

James was actually impressed. " Not a bad deal at all" he thought to himself, "Too bad I don't have another 700 dollars on me..." Realizing that he was daydreaming to himself again, he popped his head up and gave the woman a big grin. " Sounds great! I'll take it!" The girl, around 19 or 20 and obviously new, excitedly got the gun and boxed it up for him. He walked out of the store and headed to the clothing section smiling from ear to ear. " Time to pretty myself up. Can't have my girl seeing me all haggard the night I ask her to marry me, can I?"


	2. Chapter 2

James looked out the glass wall of his cityview flat. Neon lights and ads of every color under the sea flashed brilliantly in the otherwise dark region at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. A school of fish swam by with desperation, each acting to escape the tyrancial teeth of the much bigger fish behind them. James watched as half of the school was swallowed in one massive gulp, never to be seen again. He turned, disgusted by the loss of life he had just witnessed. Looking around his flat, he once again concluded that this had been a good decision, leaving the US. Being an sixteen during World War II, he had come out of it with heart full of American pride and disappointment on not being able to enlist. On hitting eighteen, he joined Joey and they both enlisted in the service...determined to be the arm of American Justice in the world. But, then came Korea as well as the horrors of war. He and Joey managed to survive, but not a day went by that he didn't think of his Lieutenant raping that woman and killing her as he stood idly by. Not a day went by that he didn't regret not killing his whole squad as he and Joey were forced to witness the destruction of an entire town of innocent Koreans. No, he had lost his faith in America and the "justice" they represented. After the war, he continued his life. He got a degree in Electrical Engineering, graduating at the top of his class in 1956. One day on returning home, he found an elaborate letter on his doorstep adressed to him. "James, congratulations on your outstanding academic performance. Graduating as the Validictorian is no small feat. I have a propasition for you"

"Oh great." he muttered to himself, "Somebody must want something from me." But, the next line stopped him cold.

"Have you ever felt dissatisfied with your life in America? Is the American Dream and American Justice a dream with no substance to you? Then, let me invite you to a place where people like you can exsist with no government interferance in your life. A place where the best and the brightest of the world can create a society that is free of the flaws of the world. A place called, Rapture!..." James read on, earnestly interested in the proposition, however unlikely it was. Later, he called Joey and told him about it. Joey, though not as impacted by the war as James, thought that it was worth a shot to check it out, just in case. Together, they called a number left by the man in the letter. That was the start of their journey to Rapture...their journey to paradise. James came back to reality and looked at his watch.

"8:00pm, I'm gonna be late if I don't hurry." He walked over to the goods he had bought earlier and pulled out his gene tonics, RapidAct and the Performance Package. After reading the instructions, he found a sizable vien on his arm and injected the Performance Package from the syringe. Automatically, he felt the effects. Warmth started from the injection site and spread to the rest of his arm then then his chest and finally his entire body. He laid down on the bed because he knew what came next. Convulsions started racking his body as his entire genetic code was being rewritten by the gene tonic. Then, the warmth started to burn. He felt like he had been thrown in a fire. Except that he was fireproof. He wished that he had been thrown in a fire! He started screaming, knowing that he felt what it must've been like to be at the Salem witch trials on the recieving end. Inside himself, he felt his muscles snapping and rejoining and gaining bulk. The pain became toom much and he passed out. When he woke up, he was no longer in pain. He lightly jumped off his bed and walked over to his mirror. "Wow. No wonder they call it the Premium Perfomance Package!" he said under his breath as he looked at what he had become. He was now toned and looked as if he was in terrific shape. A six pack that had not been there before, bulging biceps, and pecs that could cut glass. Also, from the looks of it, his lower areas had... improved significantly. He saw his free-weight set out of the corner of his eyes and became curious if his new body was just for show. He picked up a fifty-pound weight as if it was nothing and laughed as he tossed it around. " Thank you, ADAM!" he exclaimed joyfully as he ran to get his other tonic. He laid on his bed and injected the blue liquid into his blood stream. But, nothing seemed to happen. "Defective?" he thought to himself. All of a sudden he started to get a migraine and a cold sensation flooded his body as if he had been dipped into an ice bath. Then, as soon as it came it was gone. "Was that it?" he asked himself as he walked to his closet and pulled out his tuxedo and proceeded to get dressed.

Meanwhile**

"Heather, what is taking you so long? You don't want to be late for our reservation, do you?!" a woman impatiently yelled as she beat on the bathroom door.

"You can't rush perfection, darling!" Heather said as she put the finishing touches on her make-up. Despite the yelling behind her, she managed to calmly look through her wares. She wanted to look perfect tonight. "Now, what color eyes do I want today?" she mused as she pulled her finger across her gene tonics, "Purple? No, did that day before yesterday. How about green? That's always in style." She pulled out the appropriate vial and stuck herself with the needle. She nonchalantly watched as her blue eyes switched to a vibrant green with a sunburst of yellow in the middle. Her thoughts drifted to what James was doing. "If only James weren't busy tonight" she thought to herself as she twirled her curly blonde hair between her fingers, but she quickly scolded herself, "Why am I thinking of that guy? All he wants to do is hold me back, make me a wife, destroy my career! You know, I think its time that the little game I've been playing with him comes to an end." She nodded her head as if to seal the thought in place for good. She finished putting on her clothes, checked herself at all angles, and walked out amidst the frustrated cries of her friends.

"Finally, now let's go! We may still make our reservation time!" the girls said desperatley as they shoved Heather through the door. "We can't be late for a night like tonight!" some of them giggled, all but Heather in the know of what James had planned for his girlfriend.

The women took the bathysphere up to the top of the tower where The Kashmire was located. All of them giddy, some for different reasons than others. Joey greeted them at the door and pointed them to a table next to one of the glass walls, it had a perfect view of the city. Gleaming in the twilight that the artificial lamps gave to the deep sea atmoshpere. " I'll have someone come get your orders, ladies, one sec." Joey said as he walked back to where James was sitting impatiently and out of sight, all decked out for the nights activities. "The cats have arrived and Heather...she's absolutely gorgeous" he said to James, " Go get 'em Jimmy!" James gave him a hug that took the air out of him. "You been workin' out?" James laughed and strolled towards the other room.

"Just got good genes, that's all." he said slyly," They actually aren't that expensive nowadays. Oh. and there's something for you underneath the table. Just consider it an early birthday present." But, before Joey could say anything against it, James was out the door.

"The little bugger went and spliced himself!" he laughed as he reached under the table and pulled out the box. As he slowly opened it, his jaw dropped. A fully upgraded Magnum, something he'd been wanting almost as much as a 12 guage. He gingerly took the pistol and placed it with his brand new shotgun that he had recieved earlier from his employer for use in the restaurant. "That kid, too generous for his own good." he sighed, "But I'm not complaining. Shoot, two guns in one day!" He stepped behind the counter for the best seat in the house. James quietly snuck up behind Heather and put his hands on her shoulders. She swiftly turned around and looked at James in a manner he couldn't quite put his finger on. Shock definitely, but there was something else in her expression that gave Joey a bad feeling "Good luck, kid, you'll need it." he said to himself as he started mixing drinks for the newly arriving customers.


	3. Chapter 3

James ran out of the room Joey was in, giddy to begin the night with a bang. There the girls were, and they had kindly positioned Heather so she wasn't facing him. As he was walking towards them, someone else caught his eye. "Is that Diane McClintock? Andrew Ryan's mistress?" he wondered but quickly put the thought out of his head. Tonight is about me and Heather. He walked up directly behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. He felt her tense up and then relax as she turned around. "Hey, honey" he cooed, "Surprised?"

An interesting look consumed her face before she answered, "Of course. But, what about work?"

"Didn't need me today" James retorted, " Wanted to give you a surprise. Care to join me at our table? There's something I want to talk about." He gently picked her up by the hand and walked with her to the special table that Joey had set up by the band stand. He sat her down, took his seat and asked the waiter for a bottle of champagne. The band had taken their seats and began to play "Beyond the Sea". James sack back in his chair and asked, "Heather? How long have we been dating? Our first date was this past February on the twenty-fourth if I remember correctly. So, its been a little more than ten months, right?" She had her head down, just nodding. The champagne arrived and James tipped the waiter graciously. "Well, I've been thinking a lot lately. I've been wondering about us and our future." Heather, head popping up for the first time.

"I know exactly what you mean, and I feel the same way. We ought to stop seeing each other and just be friends." she said in a matter of fact voice. James couldn't move an inch. He was utterly dumbfounded. Surely he had heard something wrong. But, she kept going. Saying she had seen it coming for a while and that it was the best thing for both of them. He couldn't hear any more after that.

"Wha...what did she mean? Surely she's not serious!" his mind going a thousand miles per hour trying to make sense of what just happened. After a little more talking she stood up and stuck her hand out. He took it and shook it, no knowing what kind of look was on his face.

"Well, I'm glad we could handle this like mature adults. I do hope you'll drop by after your dinner and say hi to the girls and me before you leave. Ciao!" she said as she was briskly walking off. James sank to the floor and just stared at the ceiling, not knowing what to do. A few minutes later, Joey walked in and came up to him.

"Hey, man, was she not ready for the ring yet?" he said trying to assure his friend. No response. "You gonna live?" he said, a little more concerned about how his friend was handling the situation.

"She doesn't want to be with me at all. She just walked out. She wants to be friends." James whispered, obviously holding back tears. Joey shook his head and patted his friend on the back.

"C'mon, let's get a couple of drinks in you." he said as he picked up James from the ground and took him to the nearest bar stool. He thought to himself as he was pouring Jack a shot of Vodka, "Always funny how they want to be friends with you whenever they rip the beating heart out of your chest." He looked at the clock as he heard the people begin chanting ," 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." But an explosion outside of the restaurant stopped the cheering of all but the most drunken patrons. Then the screams started "I got a bad feeling about this, Jimmy" , he said to his friend. Now temporarily forgetting what had happened but moments before and on the alert. "Here, take this, you might need it here in a second" Joey muttered as he threw the Magnum to James who looked at it confusedly. "You still know how to use one, right Corporal?"

"But, what about...oh" he said as he gawked at the shotgun Joey whipped out. Joey then threw him some Anti-Personnel rounds and began loading his own weapon. Then, they heard the front door blow open and footsteps as men rushed through the ruined entrance. Screams filled the air as the vandals rushed through the restaurant. "What are we waiting for?! Let's help them!" James yelled as he burst through the door, praying that Heather had found someplace to hide. Directly in front of him was a man with a large pipe beating in the skull of an already dead man. Blood and brains covered the mans clothing, hands, and face. He looked more demon than human. James took aim and fired hitting the demon in the chest. A lethal shot, or so he thought. The man with the pipe turned around and began running at James screaming hysterically. James took aim and fired again and again, but bullets seemed only to slow down his assailant.

"James duck!" yelled Joey, who had just dealt with three of the other men in the same amount of time. Joey acted to the command and a split second later the mans entire body acted as if a mine had gone off inside of it, covering James' suit with blood but leaving him no worse for wear. "Explosive buckshot" said Joey as he kissed his gun, "gotta love it!"

"I'll take this level, and you get the lower" said Jack, "I gotta find Heather!" He searched every room for survivors, but there seemed to be none at all. "These freaks don't take are these guys, anyways?" he thought to himself, "Not human, at least, not anymore." As he continued walking, he noticed another strange trend that he couldn't explain. "There are burn marks and bodies, but no bullet holes anywhere. It's too precise to be from just setting the place on fire. What's going on here?" he thought as he cautiously sneaked into the front room and crept to where Heather's table had been. He found the table, or what was left of it. Six corpses surrounded the charred remains, burned beyond recognition. He found the body he supposed was Heather's and fell to the ground overwhelmed with grief. He knew that she didn't stand a chance, she was in the front room when the attack began. Tears started to form in his eyes but he tried to hold them back because he knew that if he started, he wouldn't stop. Then he gave in to his sadness, weeping at losing the love of his life as well as many of his good friends that had been sitting around this table. Yelling in agony, he began pounding his fists on the ground until his hands began to bleed.

"Aw. what's wrong, little fish? Don't like our handiwork? Stand up and give me all what's in you pockets, before I fry you just like I did your little girlfriends here!" said a voice behind James. James stood up and turned around. He looked the man straight in the eye.

"You're the one that killed these women? Answer carefully, because your answer will greatly influence the way you die!" he screamed as he pulled up his pistol with inhuman speed and pointed it at the man's head. The man laughed insanely at the man's challenge.

"Yes, I killed them. But not before I had a fun with a few of the prettier ones. But you're wrong about who's killing who because it is your funeral, not mine, little fish." the man cackled as he snapped his fingers. Instantly, James' clothes caught on fire and began to burn.

Adrenaline and blind rage pumping through his body, James took aim and shot the man in both of his legs in a split second, surprising splicer and even himself at the sheer speed of the act. "RapidAct, the reflex booster" he remembered," So it wasn't a dud after all." He patted down the flames on his clothes as he walked over to injured splicer who was attempting to crawl away. He kicked the man and flipped him over. The once cocky face showed nothing but sheer horror at the flaming anger behind his opponent's eyes.

"Mercy, brother, mercy!" The splicer begged as James stood over him, pistol in hand. Filled with fury, James stomped on the man's chest, hearing and feeling a few ribs break.

"Mercy? MERCY?!" he roared, "Where was the mercy you showed anyone tonight, you son of a bitch?! No, you get no mercy. You will get what you have unjustly forced on so many others today, including the woman I loved more than life itself. You deserve nothing but death" James raised his pistol and aimed it at the man's head. " Burn in hell. " he muttered under his breath as he ended the mans life with a single shot. He stared at the corpse of the splicer, unable to lift his head until he heard more of the mens' voices coming his direction, and quickly. He stood in the doorway, unwilling to move to avoid a fight. No,he wanted to fight, to kill the men who had caused him so much pain.

"Boss! Boss! We gotta get outta here. The rest of the rich bastards are locked up in a room and some crazy man with a shotgun is..." the leader of the group said as the men came running around the corner, guns and steel pipes in hand. "Who the hell are you?" he said, seeing James. And upon glimpsing the corpse on the floor, the men jumped back. "Boss!? I don't know who you are, ass-wipe, but its five against one and there's no way you can take all of us at once!" the same splicer said as three of the men began charging him.

James felt adrenaline surging in his bloodstream again and just looked at the men and then at his gun. "Let's see if I can do this again. If not, I'm totally screwed." As they came at him, he was amazed at how slow they seemed to be moving in relation to him. Easily dodging the attempts of the three thugs to bash his skull in, James proceeded to unload four bullets into the chests of the two leaders of the group that stood back to watch the pummeling. Within a couple of seconds the other three joined their unfortunate friends for a dirt nap. Taking one last look at the charred bodies of his good friends, James turned and walked downstairs to the level that Joey had taken charge of. He found him guarding the door the splicers must've been talking about. "Joey, good to see you're ok." His friend stood up and wiped the sweat off his face.

"Yeah, me too." he grinned, but instantly became serious, "And Heather?" At the mention of her name James slumped and shook his head, holding back tears. "I'm sorry, James." Joey said, " You did your best." James clenched his fists and looked into the eye of his best friend."

"I'm not done yet, Joey. In fact, I'm just getting started." James said as calmly as he could, " I'm going to find every person that was involved in this. Every thug, every middle-man, every leader. I'm going to find them, and I'm going to kill them." He closed his eyes abd said so that only Joey could hear," We left so that we could fight for what we believe in, Joey, remember? Well, more than anything, I believe in Rapture, so I'm going to fight those that want to destroy it and what it stands for!" Joey stared back into James eyes and nodded knowing he meant exactly what he said. Even more, he agreed 100% .

" Do whatever you need to do, go wherever you need to go. I always got your back, Jimmy." said Joey as he looked out the windows of the once beautiful restaurant. " Lets get the bastards, every last one of 'em."


	4. Chapter 4

Heather stood up at the table with James and shook his hand. The guy looked absolutely pitiful. All the life that was in his eyes minutes ago had been replaced by clouded sadness. "Well, I'm glad we could handle this like mature adults. I do hope you'll drop by after your dinner and say hi to the girls and me before you leave. Ciao!" she said as she briskly walked out of the room. " Obviously not where he was going, but that's not my problem" she thought. But, as she got closer to the main room of the restaurant, tears began filling her eyes. She turned the corner and saw that her seat had been occupied by another woman. So, she changed direction and headed to the bathrooms, tears now streaming down her face. "What is wrong with me?" she asked her refliection as she wiped her eyes, " This is what was best for the me. I can't be tied down with a husband or a family. I have a career to think about!." From the mirror, she saw the makeup that was running down her cheeks. As she was trying to fix the smudges on her face, she thought about the warm eyes that looked at her like noone else ever had; the hugs from behind that scared her half to death and the laugh that came when she jumped out of her skin. "Stop thinking about him." the demanded herself, but then came thoughts of their first date in the Arcadia Tea Gardens. February 24, just like he said. She couldn't believe he still remembered. "Ah, screw it." she muttered in frustration at the impossible task of fixing her makeup. She pinned up her hair and washed her face, feeling much better afterwards. Then she began thinking, "Maybe I should go..." But an explosion interrupted her thoughts. " What the hell was that?" she whispered under her breath. Faint screams could be heard in the distance along with more explosions. "What in the world is going on?" she said a little louder. A large crash that she assumed correctly was the front door of the Kashmir was soon accompanied by inhuman yells and the screams of the other people in the restaurant answered her question. "Gotta hide." she thought frantically as her eye rested on the stalls that lined the wall. She quickly tried the nearest one, but the toll-box kept it locked. "Damn, greedy bastards!" she screamed inside of her head, "Who makes someone pay for something like this!" Pulling all the change out of the bottom of her bag, she shoved it in the slot and slipped into the stall. Just after she locked it, a voice came echoing off of the white tile and into the room.

" Anyone in here? Don't worry I won't hurt you, much. I'm just lonely...lonely, that's all. Doesn't anyone want to be my friend tonight?" the man cooed. Heather quietly climbed on top of the toilet so that the pervert couldn't see her feet. The sound of the mans shoes began sounding on the tile floor. Closer and closer the sound came, until it stopped behind the stall that Heather had claimed. Beads of sweat formed on her brow as she prayed to any diety that would make the man leave. The man continued, sounding hurt, "Occupied? You mean that someone is hiding from me. That's not very polite. Why doesn't she want to be my firend?"

"Shit." she thought, "Why didn't I remember about that? What am I going to do?" As she was thinking, the man's disfigured head appeared over the top of the door.

"Hello, poppet. I guess if you don't come out, I'll just have to come in!" the man said maliciously. Jumping down, the man kicked the door, breaking the hinges. He then ripped it away as if it was nothing. "Come 'ere, beautiful." the man said, grinning evilly as he began to undoing his belt.

Heather was thinking furiously. "What do I do? The way he dealt with that door, there's no chance I can fight him off. The brute is strong, but doesn't look very smart." A plan popped into her head. "Oh, I'm so sorry for hiding earlier. You just surprised me, thats all."she said innocently, touching the man's chest. "But, why do you wanna have sex here? There's nothing but a cold, hard, tile floor." . She pointed to a love seat in the corner of the restroom and winked at him, " That couch looks like it was made for two." The man stared at her, dumbfounded. He was obviously not expecting cooperation. "Perfect, right where I want him." she thought as she lead the splicer to the couch.

"You're a dirty little girl, aren't you?" he cackled as he sat down. Heather took the Metal hair pins out and shook her hair loose over her shoulders. As she began walking towards him, the man grunted, "Come on, give it to me."

"As you wish." she said as she pulled one of the pins from behind her back and stabbed the man in his left eye. The man roared in pain as blood started gushing from where his eye used to be.

"Die! Bitch!" he screamed as he lunged for Heather, grabbing for anything. Jumping back, she dodged the man lunge and instead he hit the floor and stopped moving as the metal spike in his eye was forcefully shoved into the man's brain by the floor. Heather had to fight down vomit as she realized what she had just done. She killed a man, even if it was in self defense. Unable to stand it anymore she fled the restroom and only hoped that there was noone else around that wanted to kill her.

Running out the charred remains of the front door of the Kashmir, a familliar voice stopped her, "Heather! Heather, over here!" She turned to see her coworker from Ryan Robotics. Instantly overwhelmed at seeing someone she knew that was alive, Heather rushed her friend and gave her a hug.

"You don't know how glad I am to see you." Heather said, squeezing the life out of the girl. "Are you alone, do you know what's even going on?" she asked, hoping that she could get some answers.

"Actually, I'm with a couple of people that are hiding in that maintenanace closet over there. I was checking to see if the coast was clear when I saw you." she said pointing to a nearby door. "As for what's going on, I know as much as you do. Absolutely nothing. But, I do know that I'm getting out of here before things get any worse." The pair walked back to the closet and opened it up, revealing about twelve people. "It's clear at the moment, so we should get going." she stated and everyone got out. Heather's eye caught something as she watched the last person get out and her heart skipped a beat.

"Janet, are those security bots?" she said as she closed in on the box and started rummaging through it, pulling out the machines and lining them up with care. She had never seen the likes of them before.

"Yeah, those bulky contraptions are an older model. They were so armored and dangerous, they were taken off the line. The thinking was that they were too much for simple security and were more suited for a warzone than anything." Catching the end part of what she just said she asked, "Hey you think we could..?"

"Way ahead of you." Heather said as she flipped a switch in the bot. The engine started up and the bulky, hovering, death machine rose into the air. Within a few minutes, all four of the bots were spinning in the air, circling the group. Covered in oil and grease, Heather stood up and wiped her forehead. " There, that'll help." she laughed," Never thought I'd have to hack my own company's bots!" At that moment a large group of aggressors turned the corner and saw the group.

"There's some more of em, have fun!" the leader eagerly yelled, taking off in a sprint towards the people with twenty splicers following close behind. Some of the women started screaming and the children started crying. Heather looked at the bots, hoping her reprogramming did the trick. The lights on the robots flying above went from yellow to red at the demostration of agression by the splicers. Heather grinned in silent victory. The gatling guns on the security bots fired warning shots at the splicers who seemed oblivious to the threat that loomed above their prey. The security drones, their warning shots ignored unleashed a wall of hot metal on the charging madmen. Men winced and women turned their heads when screams rang in the air as the splicers were quickly and utterly destroyed. Severed limbs and even heads littered the floor as the first wave of the mob, including their leader, fell to the Metal beasts that protected Heather and the group. Groans filled the air as those that were not already dead laid dying in pools of their own blood. The drones quickly ended their suffering. Heather was astonished at the amount of damage the bots unleashed in such a short period of time.

"No wonder they weren't mass produced." she thought to heself, horrified, "These things were built for killing, not security. What were they doing in that closet?...But, at least they're on our side." She walked out in front of the group who were astonished and disgusted by what had just happened to get their attention. She said so that eveyone could hear," If we can make it to the Bathysphere station, we can make it to a safer area. It's not that far away, but stay together! Otherwise, I can't garuntee these guys will do anything to help you." She pointed to the security bots. As she began walking, the others in the group slowly started following, unsure if this was the wisest thing to do. But Heather was determined to get out of that place as soon as possible. She had seen more death in one hour than she ever had planned on seeing. She did not want to end up a coprse. "I will survive this." she said to herself, " I have to."


	5. Chapter 5

Heather and the group reached the Bathysphere station with no more encounters with the rogue splicers. The high vaulted ceilings were "Everyone get in, there's plenty of room for all of us." said as they walked towards the large brass sphere.

"Leaving so soon? Why would you want to leave when we're just now starting to have fun?" said a female voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once in the large room. Several other voices laughed as the voice continued. " It's so bright in here." the voice droned, " Let's see how it looks with the lights turned... out, shall we?" In an instant, the room and halls turned pitch black except for the lights of the drones and the luminescent glow of the ocean that filled the hallway. Heather had an extremely bad feeling in her gut that she couldn't shake. These weren't the ordinary kind splicers they had seen so far. These acted different...they were more than just meat heads with metal pipes.

"These turrets won't let you get near us, you don't stand a chance!" Heather yelled out into the room, not quite even believing herself. She heard scuttling sounds and falling debris from the roof. "These guys are definitely different." she was thinking until there was a soft thump behind her and someone put her in a ferociously strong bearhug.

The same voice from before whispered in her ear," Oh, I'm not too worried about those." A drone shined its light on the splicer who laughed and tore off from her potential victim. Heather had a quick glance of the woman before she had disappeared tumbling nimbly into the darkness and jumping to the ceiling, where she again heard the scuttling noise. A few seconds later, the original voice appeared from above the main group, "These little fish are getting rather boring, aren't they? Let's play with them a little bit!" The room erupted in insane laughter as the other splicers whole-heartedly agreed with the voice. The drones, one by one, were taken out by the cackling phantoms. With every sputtering and dying of an engine and light, Heather's already belittled confidence turned to horror. Their one and only line of defense had been easily destroyed by these spliced up specters. She instinctively backed up and looked into the darkness, trying to see their tormenters. Without thinking, she tripped backwards into the Bathysphere and, in trying to catch her fall, pulled the lever that activated the machine.

The spider splicer licked her lips and looked to her brethren that were on the ceiling. "Well", she said, "Looks like one little fishy got away." She dropped on a man looking frantically above him and shoved the long curved hooks that she used for climbing into his neck, kissing the man before ripping the hooks out and watching the man drown in his own life-blood. "Finish the rest of them. This game grows tiring!" the splicer screamed as she ripped her next victim open. Screams filled the room as the spider splicers fell on their prey without mercy, not allowing anymore little fish to escape their web.

*******************

"Ok guys, spread out and grab anything that looks useful. We'll need all the help we can get if there's anymore of those splicers around." James said aloud as he walked into what was left of the plasmid store he had visited earlier that day. The broken glass and empty syringes that littered the floor spoke of a gene splitting frenzy that had gone on not too long before they had arrived. He looked around for a supply room, hoping that the maddened freaks that were running around had overlooked it in their rampage. Jumping the counter and walking into the back of the store, he found a door that looked too sturdy to be normal. "Hey, Joey, think I found it!" James yelled down the corridor, "Mind lending me a..." A slight creak set off James' heightened senses, but even he wasn't fast enough to avoid looking down the barrel of a modified sub-machinegun. He looked down the gun into the face of the man that held his gaze, steady as a rock. The cold, hard eyes of the man that stared back at James, the eyes of a war-tested veteran, immediately let him know that this guy knew exactly what he was doing. Joey walked through the door and stopped at the sight, instantly putting the man in the bead sight of his shotgun. After a few tense seconds, the man with icy eyes lowered his weapon and held his hand out to James with the same cold expression as before.

"Glad to see you're not as crazy as the rest of those motherfuckers that came through here." he said as James returned the favor and Joey lowered his 12 gauge. The door behind him opened to reveal the counter girl from the gun store and what looked like a half-dozen scared citizens that he had taken under his care. "The name is Drake Frost." he said quietly. James thought the name fit quite well. His platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, and his piercing voice reminded him of the bitter cold winters he'd experienced in New England before his days in Rapture. "I was the owner of this dump before the attack started."

"I'm James, and that lump over there is Joey. We're leading a party out of this hell-hole. The plan is to head to the Bathysphere stations and make our way up to the Medical Pavilion. You're welcome to join, in case you're interested." James offered.

"Better than being holed up in this pit", Drake agreed. "Your party is welcome to any of the stock back here. The enemy has weaponized plasmids that I've never seen before. From what I can tell, they are using unrefined ADAM. The shit is stronger than the safe stuff, but it is more addictive than cocaine."

"Unrefined ADAM?" James asked.

"I don't have the time to explain right now. Just know the shit is bad news for everyone in Rapture." Drake sighed as he began gathering useful plasmids for distribution among the group. After the majority of plasmids and gene tonics were distributed, Drake motioned for James and Joey to come away from the group. The two curiously wandered over to their new ally, wondering what he had in store for them in the box he was holding.

"What's up, Drake?" Joey said as he eyed the container. James examined the intricate markings on the outside, thinking that whatever it was, it was important.

"I had hoped that I would never show these to anyone." Drake said as he opened the container, nearly blinding the two as the light from six fluorescent tubes with swirling thick liquid came from the box.

"What the hell are those?" James asked, dumbfounded by the light display. "They look like syringes of ADAM, but 1000 times brighter"!

"They are syringes of ADAM, James." Drake said quietly, "They are my brother's horrible legacy to this world. They are the reason he died by the hands of Atlas. Or, shall I say Frank Fontaine."

In that instant, the lights went out and were met with the surprised yells of the group out front.

"Storytime can wait" James said to Drake, still confused by his statement. Fontaine had died not too long ago in a shootout with Andrew Ryan's men. Atlas was just some labor worker that had begun to gather quite a following in favor of reform. Was this attack really caused by Atlas' group?

"Here James, take this." Joey said as he gave him a glowing vial from a similarly glowing box he had grabbed off of a shelf. James read the title of the gene tonic. "Owl Eyes! Are you sick of being lost in the dark? Try Owl Eyes, to brighten your way in the darkest of paths. Evolve Today!"

"Lord, they truly do have a tonic for everything..." James muttered as followed Joey's example and felt for a vein to stick himself. When he finally succeeded, the change was immediate...as was the pain. It felt like dynamite had just been set off in his head, the pain moved straight to his eyes as he felt their shape changing within his skull. He had the great urge to tear the pain from his head, anything to end it. Then, it was over. He uncovered his eyes and found that he was standing in what seemed like a dimly lit room. The only difference was that there were no shadows at all. Instead, they had been replaced by an equal shade of light everywhere. He and Joey looked at each other and jumped slightly. Joey's eyes had become completely white, and he could only imagine that his eyes looked the same to his friend. Drake had followed suit and the three took the remaining Owl Eye syringes to distribute among the combat ready in the group. Before long, the band of refugees began to continue on their way to the Bathysphere station. Those that could see in the dark led those that couldn't, guiding the helpless survivors through the abyssal darkness of the Atlantic seabed. As they moved, they could see horribly mangled bodies that looked as if they had been torn through by chainsaws.

"I don't want to meet whatever those guys did" Joey whispered over to James. James had to agree, but as far as he could tell the only ones that he had seen killed in such a gruesome fashion had been the maddened splicers. As they neared the Bathysphere station, a horrible scene caught the attention of those in charge. Those that could see ahead noticed a large collection of corpses that were definitely not from the splicer group. It appeared that a few had tried to escape, but to no avail. Men, women, and children had all been cut down viciously by some terrible foe. James got the feeling in his gut that they were walking into a trap, but with the Bathyspheres and escape so close at hand, he suppressed his feelings and herded the group into the station with the utmost caution. He was determined not to share the fate of the group before him. As they came to the nearest available, a scuffling caught his ears. He turned to see one of the most horrifying sights of his life. He bumped Joey and pointed behind him. Joey cursed under his breath and they began pushing the group towards the Bathysphere ever faster. On the roof of the station scurried almost twenty creatures that, while obviously were once human, had lost all resemblance to the word. Using meat hooks as claws, they're heads were twisted 180 degrees from the natural position. Many had faces so disfigured by excessive use of raw ADAM that they hid their faces with masks of every shape and color.

"Look here, my spiders, some more fish for our net." Said the obvious leader of the group. At this, the members of the group that couldn't see began to panic. Drake, Joey, and James left their groups in the hands of others who could see and fell to the back, weapons drawn. "Oh, look at this my spiders," the leader exclaimed, "a few real men willing to die for the rest of the pitiful weaklings! What a shame they'll die blind just like all the rest." James then pulled out his revolver, aimed, and shot the splicer next to her between the eyes within a half second. As the body fell to the ground, the spiders dropped from the exposed ceiling and went to cover.

"So, tell me again, who's going to die blind?" James yelled out. The laughter of the spiders began to roar and echo throughout the Bathysphere station. The inhuman noise sent a chill of fear down every member of the group. Definitely not the reaction he had wanted.

"So, you aren't blind little fish!" screamed the leader, "That just makes the game that much more enjoyable. But make no doubt about it; you will not leave this level alive my fish!"


	6. Chapter 6

The psychotic laughs of the spider splicers rang through the air as James, Joey, and Drake readied themselves for the fight of their lives.

"Never thought I'd see so many splicers like this outside the labs of Fontaine Futuristics." Drake said muttered. Instantly, where once there was laughter there was silence. The voice of the spider splicer's leader rang from the cover she and her comrades had taken.

"Ahhhh, I see one of our fish isn't so small. Tell us, what do you know of Fontaine Futuristics? Were you one of the "great men" that decided to use me and my brothers' genetic codes as playthings? Were you one of the men in the white coats and covered faces as they strapped us down and took our humanity?" She walked out from cover, her hands, still holding meat-hooks, in the air. Joey and James, concerned, looked over at Drake, who couldn't stop staring at the floor. "LOOK AT ME! Look into the face of one of your victims, you son of a bitch!" she screamed, throwing on of the hook right in front of Drakes feet, sticking it in the ground with inhuman strength. "I had a husband and two kids, I was beautiful! You took EVERYTHING from me!"

"Drake, what is she talking about? Human experimentation?" James asked Drake as the spider splicer fell to the ground, sobbing.

"Do you remember what I said about my brother when I showed you the box with the augmented ADAM?" Drake whispered quietly to James and Joey. They silently nodded their heads as Drake continued. "Me and my brother were both geneticists for the United States government. He was absolutely brilliant, much more competent in the subject than I. Whenever we came to Rapture and ADAM was discovered... he changed. He became obsessed with forcing the evolution of human beings. Eventually, he began to see what he was doing as art. That's when it got really ugly. After he showed me some of his grotesque 'masterpieces', I broke all ties with him and his sick obsession. I didn't have anything to do with it, I swear on my life!" Drake finished.

"I believe you, Drake, but so help me if you are lying..." James said coldly to Drake. "I'm sure you heard that, Ms. Splicer, and now that you know that my friend had nothing to do with Fontaine Futuristics, could you please tell me why you killed all these innocent people in cold blood?" James said, turning his attention to the sobbing mass on the floor.

"Because Atlas promises us that he will take revenge on the men who ruined our lives if we do what he says... we have no choice. If you had been through what we have, you would do the same thing!" the woman hissed as she picked herself off the floor.

"Atlas IS Fontaine, the man who funded the research! You're being lied to!" Drake yelled pleadingly to the splicers. "All this fighting, all this death, it's all pointless! You were wronged, and justice needs to be carried out, but you are taking it out on the wrong people!"

"You LIE!" screamed the leader of the splicer gang as the rest started angrily muttering splicers started shifting back and forth in preparation to strike. "We WILL carry out Atlas' will and we WILL have our REVENGE!" In the blink of the eye, the splicer jumped forward, grabbing the hook she had thrown at Drakes feet and lunging for Joey's neck.

"So fast" thought James as he moved his arm to grab the splicer's. The splicer in mid-lunge changed direction and the deadly hook rushed towards James' stomach. Even with his reaction time vastly superior to the average human, the hook came so fast that all James could do was try to block her arm and hope he didn't end up with a hook in him. A blur of white entered his field of vision and the splicers began screaming as his assailant's arm stopped in its tracks, frozen in place. James took this opportunity to jump backwards out of danger His attacker held her arm as well as she she retreated as well.

"Attack them, comrades! Don't let any of them live!" the leader yelled as she made her way to the safety of cover.

"Not so fast" Drake yelled as he flexed his arms. His once normal arms sprouting icicles as he began hurling more white blurs at the fleeing splicer, freezing her solid. "Joey, hit her while she's iced!"

Joey set his bead on the frozen splicer and pulled the trigger. The pellets crashed into the frozen splicer, shattering her into little bits. "Holy shit, she shattered!" Joey muttered. Screams of anger rose to a psychotic roar that filled the room and bodies were scuffling on the walls and across the ceiling at a blistering pace.

"To the middle of the room, guys! Back to back!" James yelled. When they got to their positions, James looked at his allies and told them, "Drake, do that weird arm thing and work with Joey if they get close, I'll try to pick them off from a distance with my pistol. Oh, and Joey, try not to die." Finishing with a laugh he began trying to pick off the splicers that were all quickly moving to and fro. "Damn, these guys are barely any slower than that leader of theirs, I can just barely keep up with their movements." As he was shooting at the people who were trying to kill him and his friends he couldn't help thinking about the woman that had led these splicers. Did all of them share her story? What the hell was going on in this city? Could it be connected to...Heather? Tears began filling his eyes as his concentration slipped from the battle at hand to his dead love. One of the splicers noticed his mistake and with a quick jump was on top of him. He yelled as he was pinned to the ground by the crazed human experiment.

"Shit! Jimmy!" Joey yelled as his friend went down. As the meat-hooks came down, about to finish, Joey used the butt of his shotgun on the back of the splicer's neck ,breaking it. James pushed the corpse off and jumped back up, the wake-up call doing its job of getting his head back in the action.

"Calm down, James" Drake said as he froze a splicer on the ceiling who promptly fell to the ground and shattered, "Take out as many as you can, one at a time. Don't forget that we're here to clean up the ones you miss."

"Don't worry, I was gone for a sec, but I'm back" James returned. "Concentrate, James, slow down" he thought as slowed his breathing and quickly assessed the situation. There really aren't too many of them, they're just so quick and agile that they seem to fill the entire room. "They're real danger is that they are so agile that they can attack from any direction. I just have to find a way to get them to attack me head on, but how?." he thought. A lightbulb went off inside his head. "Hey guys, follow me, I have a plan." James said to Joey and Drake as he took off towards the tunnel where the remainder of their party had pulled back.

"Jimmy, what are you doing?" Joey yelled as he and Drake took off after James. Angry cries of the splicers rang in the air as they followed them into the tunnel.

"These halls all have bulkheads that are to me used if there is a leak, I'm going to close it just enough to take away their advantage!" James answered as he came to a terminal, and began closing the bulkhead door as the splicers closed in. When the space was almost one man in width, he smashed the terminal and stopped the door from completely shutting. He jumped in between Drake and Joey as the first splicer reached the door. "Let 'em have it!" He shouted as the three began unloading into the waves of spider splicers that were trying to rush through the door in a blind rage. After a couple of minutes the last bloody remains of the spider splicers stopped twitching and the rest of their group came to see the results of the battle. Finally getting into the Bathysphere, James and Joey pulled Drake off to the side.

"I don't know what the hell you have in your arms, but it sure as hell works." Joey whistled as they finally had a chance to breath. "That's a weaponized plasmid, isn't it?"

Drake nodded his head, "Actually, it was one of the first. It was code-named 'Winter Blast'. However, how I came by it is a long and painful story."

James sat back and closed his eyes and said, " I understand completely. There are things that me and Joey have been through that I'd never like to recall again and I won't demand that you tell us your story." Slowly he began to open his eye and looked straight into Drakes answering stare. "However, I get the feeling that whatever you went through is connected to what happened tonight and to the death of the love of my life. So, I ask you, can you please tell us?"

"I have the same feeling you do. There is no doubt in my mind of that. So I guess the best place to start is how I became the first test subject in the Big Daddy program..."

OH SNAP! Drake was a Big Daddy? This ought to be interesting :P Till next time!


End file.
